In her Spelman address, Obama told the story of Janet Bragg, class of 1925, who was determined to become a pilot. When barred from flying out of segregated airports, Bragg and her classmates built their own airfield. When rejected from the Women Airforce Service Pilots because of her race, she enrolled in a civilian program instead. When an instructor unfairly denied her a license, she moved to Chicago, passed the exam, and became the first African-American woman to earn a commercial pilot's license. Obama quoted Bragg's own words — 'There were so many things they said women couldn't do and Blacks couldn't do. Every defeat to me was a challenge' — and extended this defiant spirit to the entire Spelman tradition. It was a masterful rhetorical move, connecting one alumna's personal resilience to six generations of women who refused to accept the limitations placed upon them.